For those that are interested, here is a rough outline of the seminar plan.

Since its inception roughly 10 years ago, the Aunkai has been focused on understanding what drives efficient body mechanics. The Aunkai is style independent and looks at what defines superior skills in the Asian Martial Arts - what made them so unique? How did the Masters achieve these skills, and more importantly - how do you go about creating those skills within yourself? Sagawa of Daitoryu-fame himself said that Aiki was based on physics and solid body mechanics - but what were those core, universal principles? This seminar will be new material (for those that have attended an Aunkai seminar before) geared to leave attendees with a solid mental and physical understanding that will allow them to delve into what makes these things possible. We can give you the roadmap... but you'll have to do the actual work! Aunkai Founder Akuzawa Minoru

Day 1^ - Precursor to "Aiki"
1. Understanding how the body is structured, and how to recognize correct body alignment
a. Deconstructing the Horse Stance - in depth analysis and unlocking the hidden potential of standing properly to connect feet to hands.
b. The body lies! Understanding how to properly interpret your own body's feedback.
c. Gravity is our friend - understanding its role in forming natural posture.
d. Getting rid of those two pesky bottlenecks, a tight back and bypassing the shoulders.
e. Creating a "neutral" body - the clever ingredient to Aiki.
f. Taking a look at dynamic correct alignment within the body through Shiko (a traditional sumo exercise).
g. Stretching - It’s not just for limbering up.
2. Solo training - Understanding its purpose and how to achieve a consistent, effective routine.
Horse stance, Shiko & Tenchijin - Deconstructing the role each exercise plays in creating true-balance and precise alignment - which set the bed rock to allow for Aiki to occur.
a. Horse Stance - as a vehicle for connecting feet to hands, managing simple forces and static alignment from the ground.
b. Tenchijin - as a means to understand the relationship between the front and back musculature of the body (yin and yang sides of the body for CMAists) - and how forces are managed within, going down to come up, going up to come down.
c. Shiko - Manipulating the alignment within Horse Stance to understand how crossbody connections work.
Day 2^ - We have the bedrock now let's put it together!
3. Martial training (conditioning exercises – Solo & Partnered).
a. Adding breath and understanding its role to Horse stance, Tenchijjn and Shiko.
b. Studying movement and intent through partnered horse stance walking and other exercises.
(Or in other words how to not screw up all the fancy alignment you learned in the previous exercises when confronted with an incoming force or obstacle).
c. Taking a deeper look at connecting the body into one unit.
- How to access the dantien
- moving from the core and legs
- moving from the furthest point to create the greatest effect
- creating a stable yet relaxed and powerful pelvic platform
- spiraling/winding/torque and how it plays into each exercise
4. Aiki (Saibunka) - to understand the great enchilada first you need to understand how a taco is made (simple management of forces within the body)
5. Using the body (Applications - Tying everything together using a host of well known applications.
a. Ikkyo, Nikkyo, Sankkyo, Kotegaesgi, Shihonage and Irimi will be looked at as well as some familiar applications from Taiji, Hsing-I, Bagua and other arts. Applications and demos will be tailored to allow people from different backgrounds to understand the concepts being presented.